Colts decline Anthony Richardson fifth-year option, deepen uncertainty at quarterback

The Colts have pushed their quarterback plan squarely toward 2026 and beyond Daniel Jones, declining Anthony Richardson Sr.’s fifth-year option for 2027 and removing any long-term team control beyond his rookie contract. The move leaves Richardson on track for unrestricted free agency after the 2026 season and would have cost Indianapolis more than $22 million in guaranteed salary, a steep price for a player the franchise no longer appears willing to anchor around.

That decision fits a broader shift that has been building for months. Richardson asked for a trade in February, and the Colts gave him permission to speak with other teams about a possible deal, but no trade has materialized. He also has not participated in voluntary offseason workouts, reinforcing the sense that the relationship has cooled while Indianapolis has moved to secure Daniel Jones, who signed a two-year, $88 million extension on March 12 after the team used the transition tag on him March 3.

Jones’ 2025 season gave the Colts a far more stable baseline. In 13 starts, he completed 261 of 384 passes for 3,101 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions, with a 100.2 passer rating. His 68% completion rate was the second-best single-season mark in Colts history, behind only Peyton Manning’s 68.8% in 2009. For a team that has spent two years trying to solve its quarterback problem, that production made Jones the safer investment and made Richardson’s future easier to question.

The football case against Richardson has been shaped by availability as much as performance. He missed 13 games after shoulder surgery as a rookie in 2023, missed four more in 2024 because of multiple injuries, then suffered a fractured orbital bone in a pregame warmup accident before the Colts’ Week 6 win over the Arizona Cardinals in 2025. He spent much of last season on injured reserve. Across 17 appearances in three seasons, Richardson has completed 50.6% of his passes with 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, a line that underscores why the Colts are no longer treating him as an automatic franchise cornerstone.

General manager Chris Ballard has tried to leave the door open, saying at the NFL Scouting Combine on Feb. 24, “I’m not gonna say he needs a complete fresh start... I still believe in Anthony.” But the roster moves say something narrower: Indianapolis is no longer betting fully on its original high draft pick. With Daniel Jones under contract, Riley Leonard in the room, and Carlie Irsay-Gordon expecting the club to recapture its early-season form, Richardson now enters a prove-it season that will determine whether the Colts reset around him or move on entirely.